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Response of wheat cultivars to dates of sowing under dryland conditions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

R. De
Affiliation:
Division of Agronomy, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi – 110 012, India
G. Saran
Affiliation:
Division of Agronomy, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi – 110 012, India
B. B. Turkhede
Affiliation:
Division of Agronomy, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi – 110 012, India
R. B. Lal
Affiliation:
Division of Agronomy, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi – 110 012, India
R. K. Singh
Affiliation:
Division of Agronomy, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi – 110 012, India
G. Giri
Affiliation:
Division of Agronomy, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi – 110 012, India

Summary

Field experiments made for 4 years between 1976–7 and 1979–80 in a semi-arid environment of north-west India showed that the productivity of dryland unirrigated wheat can be increased considerably by adjusting the date of sowing to conducive atmospheric temperatures. Sowing in the middle of November when daily mean temperatures ranged between 19 and 21 °C produced yields ranging between 2·6and 3·5t/ha (averaged over the 4 years) compared with 1·4–3·3 t/ha obtained from the crop sown by mid-October when the daily mean temperature ranged between 24 and 26 °C. The tall cultivar C 306, a derivative of winter x spring wheat cross, could withstand sowing at higher temperatures (mid-October) more than the spring wheats. High temperatures prevailing during the seedling stage of spring wheats shortened their vegetative growth and initiated early differentiation. Night temperatures above 13 °C coupled with day temperatures of 33–35 °C in the last fortnight of October adversely affected the tillering of spring wheats sown on 15 October and produced smaller spikes with few fertile spikelets.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1983

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